Sauna
A heavy, humid masterpiece of avant-folk. Phil Elverum uses massive synthesizer drones, gongs, and woodstove crackles to recreate the physical sensation of a sauna.
February 3, 2015 · P.W. Elverum & Sun, Ltd.
A heavy, humid masterpiece of avant-folk. Phil Elverum uses massive synthesizer drones, gongs, and woodstove crackles to recreate the physical sensation of a sauna.
February 3, 2015 · P.W. Elverum & Sun, Ltd.
Steam rises from wet cedar as heavy synthesizer drones and the crackle of a woodstove fill the quiet. This record wraps you in the damp, close air of a plywood sanctuary, where gongs ring out like distant thunder. It is a slow, humid exhale of acoustic guitar and thick, warm fog.
“Musically, Sauna represents a thawing, the point when the icy chill of black metal, which has gripped Elverum for years, passes”Read review
“No song on Sauna is going to make you sweat but every one will relax you and coax you into letting your worries seep on out of you”Read review
“Musically Sauna suffers from being transparent about its own history and composition”
“While less cohesive than his previous work, Sauna is still listenable, wistful and memorable no matter what Elverum throws at the listener”Read review
“Within each song, if not in every moment, Sauna has its own kind of physical duality”
“He made sure Sauna is a trudge through comfort, discomfort, fear, and acceptance, a completed revolution that leaves us flat on our backs squinting to make out what’s on the other side of this boiling steam”Read review
“Sauna is possibly the easiest, most accessible way into Elverum’s world he has released since he ditched The Microphones moniker”Read review
How does Sauna sound next to the rest of Mount Eerie's catalogue?
Massive, enveloping keys/synth lines rise like thick steam through these arrangements, replacing the usual skeletal guitar work with a heavy and protective electronic fog.
Cassette uses generative AI to enrich its catalog. How we use AI →
